EMPLOYEES who must be on onsite duty by next week but still refuse to get vaccinated against Covid-19 will be given several options before being stopped from going to work by their employers, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
In a virtual press briefing on Monday, Labor Assistant Secretary Ma. Teresita S. Cucueco said a “no work, no pay” scheme will only serve as a last resort for employers to compel their workers to get vaccinated.
She said the affected workers may avail themselves of a work-from-home arrangement if it is available in their company; and if not, they could make use of their leave credits to continue getting paid.
“Once it [leave credit] is exhausted, then that is the time they have to go through a no work, no pay [scheme],”
Cucueco said.
For unvaccinated employees who want to work onsite, the labor official said they could still do so if they undergo regular Reverse Transcription —Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) or through antigen test at their own expense.
Not a mandated vaccination
DOLE issued the statement as labor leaders warned that workers may question the legality of the new policy for being discriminatory against unvaccinated workers.
To recall, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF) issued Resolution No. 148-B, series of 2021 earlier allowed employers to “require” their onsite workers to be inoculated against Covid-19 starting on December 1, 2021.
The issuance, however, bans companies from firing their unvaccinated workers.
Last week, IATF issued Resolution 149, series of 2021, which allows even partially vaccinated employees to work onsite.
Cucueco defended the legality of both IATF resolutions by noting the two issuances do not “mandate” inoculation for onsite employees, since its provides them with other options to continue their work even if they remain unvaccinated.
Thus, she said, they do not violate Republic Act 11525 or the Covid-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021, which bans making vaccine cards an additional “requirement” for education and employment.
She also said the government had to resort to the said “required vaccination” policy, which she said is the first of its kind, due to the threat posed by Covid-19 in workplaces.